Emporio Armani

In recent years, we've come to understand Italian secondary lines as collections with clear focuses of their own. That's the confusion in this Emporio Armani spring showthe sheer volume of details and options on the runway got in the way of any connecting line of thought.

It started with little black-and-white jackets, shown with sheer skirts worn over knee shorts. From there, it was onto soft crepe skirtsuits with flyaway satin frills, then ruffle-edged cropped pants, followed by striped T-shirts and taffeta sailor trousers. After these came various short, leather and suede jackets, some in pastels with satin ribbon binding and pouch-pocket pants, and then a sudden riff on accordion-pleated wrapped skirts. The effectbefore the bugle-beaded eveningwear began to appearwas of a bemusingly random selection from what is obviously a huge commercial line. It's a pity that it distracted from the legendary strength of Giorgio Armani's rigorous, minimalist hand. If he stripped back on detail, allowed the bones of his classics to shineand showed lessit would give his presentation far greater impact.